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The first herders in the upper Ebro basin at Los Husos II (Álava, Spain): microarchaeology applied to fumier deposits

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Abstract

Fumier deposits are the product of the recurrent use of caves and rock shelters for stabling livestock and the periodic burning of the resulting dung. Their chronologies in the Mediterranean area extend from Neolithic times up to the Bronze Age, but they are scarce in or absent from Iron Age sites. The study of these deposits has provided important information to better understand past livestock and husbandry practices. The archaeological site of Los Husos II, Álava, in the upper Ebro basin, Spain, dating to 6,990–6,770 cal bp, represents one of the earliest pieces of evidence for animal domestication in the Basque Country. The Ebro basin is particularly important, since this was the main route by which the Neolithic economic system spread from the Mediterranean coast to the northern Iberian Peninsula and the western Pyrenees. We present here the results of the study of the fumier deposits from the Neolithic Levels IV to IX of Los Husos II, through analyses of phytoliths, faecal spherulites and ash pseudomorphs. The main goal was to discover the ways in which Neolithic populations in this region adapted these new practices and carried out their activities. The results indicate a constant pattern of keeping animals throughout the study period. The principal component of the livestock diet consisted of wild grasses from the vicinity. The presence of grass inflorescences suggests a diet rich in summer grass. In addition to grasses, dicotyledonous plants were also indicated, both through phytoliths and ash pseudomorphs. Faecal spherulites from herbivores were also noted in the samples and together with phytoliths and ash pseudomorphs they give important information regarding the formation processes of the studied deposits.

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Acknowledgments

This work is part of the Research Group IT622-13. Financial support came from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (HAR2010-15967, HAR2013-42054-P) as well as from AGAUR from the Catalan Government SGR for ERAAUB Consolidated Group (2014 SGR 845). M.A.E thanks to A. Ramirez and M. Catalina their comments on the English version, and also to A. Angourakis for his advices on statistics. This work is dedicated to the memory of Lydia Zapata.

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  1. IT622/13 Facultad de Letras, Departamento de Geografía, Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Tomás y Valiente s/n, 01007, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

    Mónica Alonso-Eguíluz & Javier Fernández-Eraso

  2. ERAAUB, Dept. d’Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Montealegre 6-8, 08001, Barcelona, Spain

    Mónica Alonso-Eguíluz & Rosa María Albert

  3. Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain

    Rosa María Albert

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  1. Mónica Alonso-Eguíluz
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  2. Javier Fernández-Eraso
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  3. Rosa María Albert
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Alonso-Eguíluz, M., Fernández-Eraso, J. & Albert, R.M. The first herders in the upper Ebro basin at Los Husos II (Álava, Spain): microarchaeology applied to fumier deposits. Veget Hist Archaeobot 26, 143–157 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-016-0590-y

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